Does this bother you?

[renfairephotog]

I hate loud cellphone talkers. Thought the acts usually discourage them by taking the the phone away and talking to whoever is there.  after that other people don't use theirs during the show.
I did have someone ask me if I was recording. Good thing I wasn't or she would have ruined the video.

[Lord Clisto of York]

Actually it doesn't bother me at all if people sing along. A lot of the time that is the interaction the group wants, especially from the people that are constant followers. Audiance participation...  It lets the group know people are very interested and even know their lyrics. I have been one to sing along as well, not over the performer, and it immerses me in a different time and place. To me it makes for a more realistic time of faire. People are having fun, being entertained and joining in as it would have been on a period faire day. Of course not everyone has a good voice either, but that makes even more for the realism. I am more of a realist on that side. When I go to a faire, and walk the streets, I want to hear music, hawking, period conversation, instruments, people joining in, especially when I am in a conversation with someone. It puts me in that period. To hear a flute or harp playing in the vicinity of my conversation has me Right There in the time. I have been to faires where these things have been cut big time and not to hear other rennies singing along or participating in some way leaves me in a different place then faire. We all don't like little kids whining or crying at performances either, but it is part of life and kids add to the realism. Some people with kids will get up and leave so as to not to bother everyone else, while others will use the music to calm them. I think it makes for more atmosphere. But thats just me.

On the other hand, I am not for cell phone talkers at performances. or the ones who just go and then just talk loud through the show with friends. Those are the ones that if you want to just talk, then move away. I happen to find that way more annoying. But this is me. To me if people are having a good time, that is what it is all about. If they are being rude, then there is an issue and I have and will tell them.

Lord Clisto, Duke of York

[Merlin the Elder]

Ok...from a musician's standpoint: The genre of music and the venue will have some bearing on what is going on in the audience.

At the faire, unless the performer WANTS you to sing along, keep it down. BUT, most folk performers like for you to sing the chorus. If the performer is having trouble being heard over the crowd, it's really up to them to lead the audience.

Some of the stages are in bad places to have an attentive crowd. Those next to the main eateries (like the King's Pavilion and Sea Hag stages at Scarby) are going to have trouble. It's inevitable. The performer is generally there as background. At the outlying stages, those should be taken as concert venues. If you want to talk on your cell phone, GO AWAY!!! Let the rest of us enjoy the show, since you obviously aren't interested. (If I had my druthers, I'd install a magnetic dome over the faire to stop cell phone transmissions!)  If you want to engage in a loud, extended conversation with your friends, please GO ELSEWHERE!  Quit being so bloody rude to the performers and to the others around you. We really don't CARE that your 4-year-old wiped his arse with the cat.

KeeperOfTheBar, I'm a long-time Moody Blues fan. Like you, when I go to a show, I'm there to hear THEM perform. ...and I know most of their music as well, and perform a lot of it with my band.

In summary, most folk music performers will bring their audiences in at some point. Take their lead.

[LadyFae]

I am guilty of singing along.  Only when I KNOW the songs; and I DO have a nice singing voice.    It really depends on the group, however.  I'll sing like crazy with Bramblebush (with all of their turnovers last year I don't think that they minded) but with groups like De Cantus I only sing when they ask for audience participation.  When the spirit moves you sometimes you just have to sing!  =)

[Butch]

I also sing along.  I must admit that it does sound really nice when the performers sing the verses and the audience all sing the chorus together.  I really enjoy that!

I dislike when people sit on the benches and have conversations completely unaware that there is a performance going on around them.  I prefer that they leave.

Haven't been aware of the cel-phone talkers.

[Tink]

...We really don't CARE that your 4-year-old wiped his arse with the cat.

LOL  Actually, that's something I wouldn't mind overhearing, though I would have to leave since I'd be cracking up

[Lady Neysa]

I would have to say I disagree...I sing along.  I sing along with Three Pints Gone...I sing along with RUSH....HOWEVER...I do not try to sing at or over the volume of the performers (except for RUSH, it's too loud to matter),

Rest assured, my entire family and I will definately be singing along to RUSH when we see them in concert again in July! 

[Aniroaldawen]

I'll sing along, but quietly enough not to disturb my neighbors, unless the band asks us to sing along (like the Jolly Rogers and "One For The Road"--they ENCOURAGE us to be as loud as possible, even though it's mostly the joke of "Sing with the chorus, it's easy!" and then they go through the list of 20000000 drinks and everyone who hasn't heard it before is going "").  Sometimes performers want the audience to join in, sometimes they don't. It's a matter of respecting both the performers' wishes and, when you do sing, being respectful of your neighbors and keeping it at a level where they can hear the performer and not you.

[TheAlchemistsStar]

Speaking as a musician who has spent years in a band, I want my audience singing along.  I write most of our music and it's quite honestly a rush to see people singing the words that I wrote.  I also sing when I attend concerts, though not loudly (with the exception of seeing James in Cambridge, UK).  No one's ever complained but then I also know that I can actually sing...

The cell phone thing has never been an issue; I've never had someone do that at a concert or during a show.  I suppose I'm lucky.

[Lady L]

The performer is generally there as background.

Yes, it's the same old discussion, isn't it? Most of the shopkeepers/artists/craftspeople view the entertainment/music as background. The entertainers/musicians view the shops as backdrops/sets.

I am an artist and I used to belong to an art organization, where that topic came up frequently. The musicians wanted to be the main attraction, with a few pieces of art hanging up on the walls. The visual artists wanted to be the highlight of the show, with music playing in the background. My close friend is one of the musicians, so I understand that side of it.

Where my shop is now located, there used to be a stage about 2 shops north of mine. It was nice that we could watch some of the shows, while not leaving the shop. Sometimes, though, the noise from the stage was so loud that we couldn't hear what our customers were asking. To the west of the stage began the row of food booths, so that added more people, who were  standing in line and talking/yelling. Directly in front of my shop was a pickle barrel and they are quite loud. They took that stage down a few years ago, but there are still street performers that draw a crowd. It becomes a bottleneck at times and really noisy. It's just part of the show, though. When I go home at night, my ears are ringing. That's just how it is.

[Merlin the Elder]

It's really difficult to cover all of the bases... you please one, you alienate another. The artisans and shopkeepers are there to make their living, but so are the performers. Both sides are absolutely essential to the faire. But this is drifting from the original topic (my fault, methinks). 

Regarding the "singalongers," I say again, follow the lead of the performer(s).

[Auryn]

Don't get me wrong, if the performer asks for the crowd to sing along- I sing back just as loud as anyone else- but only when the performer asks it.

Another real life example that just happened.
Went to see Prince of Persia finally this weekend (due to finances we can only see a handful of movies a year instead of the 15-20 we would like to see in the theaters)- went to an old people matinee.
Everything is fine first 15 minutes- then a band of about 10 12yrolds come stomping into the theater and sit all the way back (about 4 rows behind me) and proceed to chit chat, giggle and be obnoxious.
Of all the people in the theater (about 20 not including the kids) I am the one that had to get up after 15 minutes of not being able to hear any dialogue and tell them to shut it or id have them removed from the theater.

So its not just a faire thing.
My general rule is that if your having of a good time doesn't disrupt or impede someone else's good time- its all good.

[Butch]

My general rule is that if your having of a good time doesn't disrupt or impede someone else's good time- its all good.

Well said Auryn!

[Anna Iram]

I like it when fans sing along with the chorus, or even softly along with the rest. It's an experience I can't get from a cd and it adds to the spirit of faire for me. I find it joyous!

I also find it joyous when Christophe the Insultor gets ahold of a phone weilding boob and we get to vote him/her in as the grand insultee for that show. hehehe...

[Adriana Rose]

The thing that gets me is the people who come up to buy anything and stay on the phone! That makes me not a very happy garland girl!

In the lanes I start SCREECHING that they have a diease and try to hustle as many patrons out of the way that will let me.